{{Short description|7th-century Irish Christian martyr}} {{about||the album by Gang Gang Dance|Saint Dymphna (album)}} {{Use British English|date=October 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox saint |honorific_prefix= Saint |name= Dymphna |birth_date=7th century |birth_place= Ireland |death_date=30 May,<ref name="surius" /><ref name="ohanlon" /><ref name="gammack" /> 7th century |death_place= Geel, Belgium |feast_day= {{ubl|30 May<ref name="rm2004" /><ref name="ohanlon" />|(formerly 15 May)<ref name="surius" />}} |venerated_in={{ubl|Catholic Church|Eastern Orthodox Church}} |image=File:Godfried Maes - The beheading of Saint Dymphna.jpg |caption= ''The beheading of Saint Dymphna'' by Godfried Maes |titles= Virgin Martyr |beatified_date= |beatified_place= |beatified_by= |canonized_date=620 |canonized_place= |canonized_by= |attributes=Lamp, Sword (with which she was beheaded), lilies |patronage= Mental health professionals, those suffering from mental illnesses<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://todayscatholic.org/st-dymphna-patron-saint-of-mental-health/|title=Todays Catholic St. Dymphna|date=25 April 2017 }}</ref> <!-- WARNING: patronages MUST CORRESPOND to a reliable secondary source, per WP:RS --> |major_shrine= |suppressed_date= |issues= }}
'''Dymphna'''<ref name="nssd">{{Cite web|url=https://natlshrinestdymphna.org/site/|title=National Shrine of St. Dymphna}}</ref> (also '''Dimpna, Dymfna, Dimfna, Dympna''' and '''Dympha''', Irish also '''Damhnait''' or '''Davnet''') is a saint honoured in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions.<ref>{{cite web|title=St. Dymphna|url=http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=222|access-date=13 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=SAINT DYMPHNA WONDERWORKER OF GHEEL|url=http://www.saintsmaryandmarthaorthodoxmonastery.org/newsletter_Jan2006.html|website=Saints Mary & Martha Orthodox Monastery|access-date=13 September 2017}}</ref> According to tradition, she lived in the 7th century and was martyred by her father.
The life of Dymphna was first recorded in the 13th century by a canon of the Church of Aubert of Avranches at Cambrai, France. It was commissioned by Guiard of Laon, the Bishop of Cambrai (1238–1248).
==Name== Dymphna's name (pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɪ|m|f|n|ə}} {{respell|DIMF|nə}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɪ|m|p|n|ə}} {{respell|DIMP|nə}}) derives from the Irish {{lang|ga|damh}} ('poet') and suffix {{lang|ga|-nait}} ('little' or 'feminine'), therefore meaning 'poetess'. It is also spelled Dimpna, Dymphnart, Dympna or Damnat; this last spelling is closer to the Irish spelling Damhnait<ref>{{cite web | last=Woulfe | first=Patrick | title=DAMHNAIT | website=Irish Names and Surnames | url=https://www.libraryireland.com/names/women/damhnait-devnet.php | access-date=2020-07-07}}</ref> ({{IPA|ga|ˈd̪ˠəunˠətʲ|pron}}).
==Story of her life and death== According to Catholic and Orthodox tradition, Dymphna was born in Ireland in the seventh century. Dymphna's father Damon was a petty king of Oriel. Her mother was a devout Christian. [[File:12 St Dymphna Detail 2 by Harry Clarke, St. Joseph's Church, Carrickmacross, Stained Glass Window.jpg|left|thumb|St Dymphna by Harry Clarke, with mad figures hiding in her cloak.]] When Dymphna was 14 years old, she consecrated herself to Christ and took a vow of chastity. Shortly thereafter, her mother died. Damon had loved his wife deeply, and in the aftermath of her death his mental health sharply deteriorated. Eventually the king's counsellors pressed him to remarry. Damon agreed, but only on the condition that his bride would be as beautiful as his deceased wife. After searching fruitlessly, Damon began to desire his daughter because of her strong resemblance to her mother.
When Dymphna learned of her father's intentions, she swore to uphold her vows and fled his court along with her confessor Father Gerebernus, two trusted servants, and the king's fool. Together they sailed towards the Continent, eventually landing in what is present-day Belgium, where they took refuge in the town of Geel.<ref name=Wagener>{{cite web | url=http://www.saintsmaryandmarthaorthodoxmonastery.org/newsletter_Jan2006.html | title=Saint Dymphna: Wonderworker of Gheel, May 15th | publisher=Saints Mary and Martha Orthodox Monastery | location=Wagener, South Carolina | date=January 2006 | access-date=31 December 2013}}</ref>
One tradition states that once settled in Geel, Dymphna built a hospice for the poor and sick of the region. However, it was through the use of her wealth that her father would eventually ascertain her whereabouts, as some of the coins used enabled her father to trace them to Belgium.<ref name=Wagener/> Damon sent his agents to pursue his daughter and her companions. When their hiding place was discovered, Damon travelled to Geel to recover his daughter. Damon ordered his soldiers to kill Gerebernus and tried to force Dymphna to return with him to Ireland, but she resisted. Furious, Damon drew his sword and struck off his daughter's head. She was said to have been 15 years old when she died.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://natlshrinestdymphna.org/history.php|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112230227/https://natlshrinestdymphna.org/history.php|title=Benedictine Convent Sisters, Clyde, Missouri, "Tabernacle and Purgatory" May 1946|archivedate=12 November 2012}}</ref> After Dymphna and Gerebernus were killed, the residents of Geel buried them in a nearby cave. Years later, they decided to move the remains to a more suitable location.
In 1349, a church honouring Dymphna was built in Geel. By 1480, so many pilgrims were coming from all over Europe, seeking treatment for psychiatric disorders that the church housing for them was expanded. Soon the sanctuary for those considered "mad" was again full to overflowing, and the townspeople began taking them into their own homes. Thus began a tradition for the ongoing care of those with psychiatric conditions that has endured for over 500 years, and is still studied and admired today. Patients were, and still are, taken into the homes of Geel's inhabitants. Never called patients, they are called boarders, and are treated as ordinary and useful members of the town.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Geel question |last=Jay |first=Mike |publisher=Aeon |url=http://aeon.co/magazine/health/the-town-where-the-mentally-ill-get-a-warm-welcome/ |date=9 January 2014 |access-date=11 April 2015 |archive-date=19 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019080510/http://aeon.co/magazine/health/the-town-where-the-mentally-ill-get-a-warm-welcome/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> They are treated as members of the host family. They work, most often in menial labour, and in return, they become part of the community.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Wells |first1=Karin |title=Psychiatric community care: Belgian town sets gold standard |date=9 March 2014 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=10 April 2015 |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/psychiatric-community-care-belgian-town-sets-gold-standard-1.2557698}}</ref> Some stay a few months, some decades, some for their entire lives. At its peak in the 1930s, over 4,000 'boarders' were housed with the town's inhabitants.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Goldstein |first1=J |title=Geel, Belgium: A Model of 'Community Recovery' |publisher=Psychology Department, Samford University |location=Birmingham, AL |url=http://faculty.samford.edu/~jlgoldst}}</ref><ref>Dr.Srole, Hobart/William Smith College, Geneva, New York</ref>
==Veneration== thumb|upright=1.2|left|St. Dymphna Church, Geel, Belgium The remains of Dymphna were later put into a silver reliquary and placed in a church in Geel named in her honour. The remains of Gerebernus were moved to Xanten, Germany.<ref name=Kirsch>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05221b.htm Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Dymphna." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 1 December 2015]</ref> The church still stands on the site where her body is believed to have first been buried.<ref name=fma>{{Cite web |url=http://www.franciscanmissionassoc.org/requests_stdymphna.cfm |title="St. Dymphna", Franciscan Mission Associates |access-date=14 May 2013 |archive-date=1 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301011647/http://www.franciscanmissionassoc.org/requests_stdymphna.cfm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Dymphna was beheaded on 30 May,<ref name="ohanlon">{{cite book|title=Lives of the Irish Saints|volume=5|first=John|last=O'Hanlon|author-link=John O'Hanlon (writer)|year=1875|publisher=James Duffy and Sons|publication-place=Dublin|url=https://archive.org/details/livesofirishsain05ohanuoft/page/n3/mode/2up|page=[https://archive.org/details/livesofirishsain05ohanuoft/page/362/mode/2up 362]|quote=[T]he feast of the Decollation [i.e. Beheading] of St. Dympna, with a solemn office, occurs on the 30th of May.{{nbsp}}[...] In the Utrecht [manuscripts],{{nbsp}}[...] it is stated, that her decollation took place, on the{{nbsp}}[...] 30th of May. The same statement is found, in the printed Legend of her Life, and in Surius.}}</ref> although the year of her death is uncertain. A transfer of her relics occurred on 15 May of a subsequent year,<ref name="gammack">{{cite dictionary|title=Dimpna (Dympna)|first=Rev. James|last=Gammack|dictionary=A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines. Volume I: A{{endash}}D|year=1877|editor1-first=William|editor1-last=Smith|editor1-link=William Smith (lexicographer)|editor2-first=Henry|editor2-last=Wace|editor2-link=Henry Wace (priest)|url=https://archive.org/details/adictionarychri00wacegoog/page/832/mode/2up|page=832|quote=May 30 is the day of her death, and May 15 that of her translation.}}</ref> the anniversary of which became her primary feast day<ref name="surius">{{cite book|title=De Probatis Sanctorum Historiis, ... Tomus Tertius, Complectens Sanctos Mensium Maii et Iunii|language=la|trans-title=An Explication of Saints' Histories. Volume III: Saints of May{{endash}}June|first=Laurentius|last=Surius|author-link=Laurentius Surius|year=1579|publisher=Gerwin Calenius & the Quentel heirs|publication-place=Cologne|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BHwW96XCqXUC/page/n3/mode/2up|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BHwW96XCqXUC/page/346/mode/2up 347]|quote=Praedicta autem corporis venerandae virginis translatio facta est decimaquinta die Maij, quo eius festum celebratur. Decollata verò fuit eiusdem mensis die tricesimo.|trans-quote=Now the aforementioned transfer of the virgin's venerated body was carried out on the 15th day of May, on which her feast is celebrated. Her beheading had actually occurred within May as well, on the 30th day.}}</ref> until the 21st century, when the post-conciliar ''Roman Martyrology'' (the authoritative compendium of feast days for the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church) assigned Dymphna's feast to the anniversary of her martyrdom, on 30 May, as listed in the 2004 edition.<ref name="rm2004">{{cite book | title=Martyrologium Romanum | edition=2nd | language=Latin | publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana | location=Vatican City | year=2004 | page=311 | quote=Die 30 maii{{nbsp}}[...] Ghelæ in Brabántia Austrásiæ, sanctæ Dýmpnæ, vírginis et mártyris. | trans-quote=On the 30th day of May{{nbsp}}[...] at Geel in Brabant, Austrasia: (the heavenly birth) of Saint Dymphna, virgin and martyr.}}</ref>
Dymphna is known as the Lily of Éire, due to her spotless virtue. She is traditionally portrayed wearing a crown, dressed in ermine and royal robes, and holding a sword. In modern versions she holds the sword awkwardly, as it symbolises her martyrdom, but in the older versions seen on numerous statues and stained glass images, her sword is pricking the neck of a demon; symbolising her title of Demon Slayer. She is also often portrayed holding a lamp, with the chained devil at her feet.
Some modern holy cards portray Dymphna in green and white, holding a book and white lilies.
During the 2022 season, the St Dymphna's Church, in Geel, Belgium, commemorated her by hosting an exposition showing the restored altarpiece venerating Dymphna by Goossen Van der Weyden.<ref name=zotvandimpna>[https://phoebusfoundation.org/en/agenda/crazy-about-dymphna/ "Crazy about Dymphna", The Phoebus Foundation]</ref><ref name=phoebusfoundation>{{Cite web|url=https://phoebusfoundation.org/en/beleef/dymphna-is-finally-coming-home/|title=Dymphna is finally coming home!|website=The Phoebus Foundation}}</ref>
==Patronage== Dymphna is the patron saint of mental illness.<ref name="auto"/>
The US National Shrine of St. Dymphna is located inside St. Mary's Catholic Church in Massillon, Ohio.<ref name=nssd/> The shrine was destroyed by a fire in 2015, but reopened in December 2016 and is still open to pilgrims and visitors. St. Dymphna's Special School is located in Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland and operates under the patronage of Western Care Association.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110107032453/http://stdymphnas.net/index.html St. Dymphna's Special School, Ballina]</ref>
== In Art == <gallery> File:Goswin van der Weyden - Legende van het leven van de H. Dymphna de H. Dymphna wordt gedoopt door Gerebernus, 1503-1505, 58657.jpg|alt=Baptism of St. Dymphna, with the death of her mother represented in the background |Goossen van der Weyden, Altarpiece of Saint Dymphna (1505), detail File:Martyrdom of St Dymphna and St Gerebernus by Jacques de l'Ange (Attr.) or Gerard Seghers (Attr.).jpg|alt=St. Dymphna and her confessor, St. Gerebernus, are martyred by St. Dymphna's father, a pagan king|Jacques de l'Ange, Martyrdom of Saint Dymphna and Saint Gerebernus (1603-1651) File:11 St Dymphna Detail 1 by Harry Clarke, St. Joseph's Church, Carrickmacross, Stained Glass Window.jpg|alt=St Dymphna holds a sword|Harry Clarke and The Tower of Glass Studio, stained glass window of St. Dymphna (1925), detail File:Harry Clarke and The Tower of Glass Studio, stained glass window of St. Dymphna (1925).jpg|alt=St. Dymphna flees her father’s house, followed by the court jester, his wife, bearing medicines, and St. Gerebran, her confessor.|Harry Clarke and The Tower of Glass Studio, stained glass window of St. Dymphna (1925), detail </gallery>
==See also== *List of Catholic saints
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Wikiquote}} {{Commons category}} *{{CathEncy|id=05221b|title=St. Dymphna|short=yes}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dymphna}} Category:7th-century deaths Category:7th-century Christian saints Category:7th-century Irish people Category:7th-century Irish women Category:Child abuse resulting in death Category:Christian child saints Category:Christian female saints of the Middle Ages Category:Deaths by decapitation Category:Female saints of medieval Ireland Category:Incest Category:Irish expatriates in Belgium Category:Irish martyrs Category:Irish people murdered abroad Category:Medieval Irish saints Category:Child murder in Belgium Category:People from County Monaghan Category:People from Geel Category:People murdered in Belgium Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:Year of birth unknown Category:Violence against women in Belgium Category:Female murder victims Category:Victims of filicide